Laissez les bon temps rouler
In a city that knows how to party, there is no need to depend solely on bar associations for opportunities to engage judges. For example, Tulane's Admiralty Institute and the law firm of Lemle & Kelleher hosted a "gala reception" for attorneys and judges, including many Fifth Circuit judges, at the New Orleans D-Day Museum, at which food and live entertainment were provided [15]. Events such as this underscore the widespread practice by the legal and business communities of maintaining personal relationships with judges through social events. Apparently, passing the champagne across the table is more palatable than passing the buck under it and often just as effective.
From: The Times-Picayune
"...the Academy of New Orleans Trial Lawyers rounded up its constituency for crustaceans [at] the annual "Life's A Beach" seafood dinner at Andrew Jaeger's Restaurant..."
"...it was an occasion for local judges and lawyers to socialize in an informal setting. Also, to savor such seafood as boiled crawfish and fried catfish. A thematic pasta, too. Richard T. Gallagher Jr. was among the organizational forces of the feasting fun that included Judges Robert A. Pitre Jr., Roland L. Belsome, Nadine M. Ramsey, Richard J. Ganucheau, Ethel Simms Jullen, Charles R. Jones, Miriam G. Waltzer, Ginger Berrigan, Carl J. Barbier, Paul A. Bonin, Leon A. Cannizzaro, Adrian G. Duplantier, G. Thomas Porteous Jr., Joan S. Benge, and Stephen J. Windhorst."
[Also present at the "Legal Levity" were Judges Sonja Spears, Terry Alarcon, and Lance Africk.]
Tipping the scales of justice
Dinner for Two is "In"
When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia was seen dining in private with Vice President Dick Cheney at a restaurant on Maryland's Eastern Shore, government watchdogs raised concerns about the appearance of impropriety [17]. At issue was a lawsuit in front of the Supreme Court charging that Cheney and his staff violated open-government rules when they met in secret with energy industry lobbyists prior to drafting the administration's energy policy. Canon 2B of of the judicial code of conduct forbids a judge to allow "social, political or other relationships to influence the judge's judicial conduct or judgment." This canon is regularly ignored. In New Orleans, for example, a judge and an attorney who were close friends and both involved in the litigation that grew out of the disaster when Katrina struck the city, would find much in common to discuss during an excursion to an out-of-state football game.
Working for the Common Good
Judges and lawyers have numerous opportunities to interact at affairs of mutual interest, such as those that are intended to strengthen the impact of their profession on the public. For example, among the notables at the 2009 gala cocktail-reception fundraiser for the newly-formed, non-profit legal advocacy group, Louisiana Appleseed, were Judge Stanwood Duval, Jr. and his wife, Janet, and Calvin Fayard, Jr. and his wife, Francis, and daughter, Caroline, the organization's treasurer [18]. The two friends also meet frequently in court as judge and attorney, respectively.
The Royal Rule
Few public affirmations of "royalty" are as ostentatious as those that are part of the New Orleans Mardi Gras spectacle. In 2002, Chaffe McCall's William Francis Grace Jr. paraded as "His Majesty Rex" with Tulane University's Kathryn Lee Reily as "Queen of Carnival" at his side [19]. While some may dismiss the proceedings of the Mardi Gras "Courts" as merely decadent revelry, they nonetheless convey a powerful political message. In 1998, former chairman of Tulane's Board of Administrators, businessman Robert H. Boh, paraded as Rex, King of Carnival [20]. Between 1912 and 2000, Tulane has claimed 45 Kings and 36 Queens of Carnival, the latter drawn from leading families whose daughters were educated on its Newcomb campus [21]
In the documentary, A House Divided, lawyer Lolis Elie expressed astonishment that the great decisions in New Orleans were made by individuals who did not hold public office.
“It was the people who run Mardi Gras, the people from the Boston and Pickwick Clubs, the bankers, were the people who were really making the decisions for everybody in the city.” [22]
According to Tulane's Southern Institute for Education and Research, "...The business elite of the city comprised members of the wealthy uptown neighborhoods, men who ran the banks, the law firms, the large businesses in the city. These same men participated in the Mardi Gras organizations such as Momus, Proteus, Rex, and Comus. They were members of the Boston Club, the Louisiana Club, and the Pickwick Club. Not a few of the business elite had grandfathers who fought as Confederate soldiers in the Civil War." Harry McCall Jr. (supra) was among those who played decisive roles on the part of the historically racist business elite that opposed desegregation in the 1960's [22].
Morton Inger described the city's business leaders as a closed elite, hostile to outsiders and anti-Semitic — a stagnant, inward-looking group that lacked civic consciousness and displayed more interest in prestige, tradition and family than in economic development [23]. In 1960, Betty Wisdom observed that “New Orleans . . . is one of the few American cities I know of in which the populace is still content with bread and circuses once a year and the aristocracy, having provided the free show, feels no obligation to provide anything further.” [24]
In speaking of the exclusive clubs and carnival "krewes" of New Orleans, J. M. Barry, author of Rising Tide commented:
“[P]erhaps more than any other city in America, New Orleans was run by a cabal of insiders, and everything from politics to the money the jazz musicians made depended upon them. Looking on as if from behind a two-way mirror, these insiders watched and judged and decided. There were layers of insiders, and folds within layers, with position largely defined by Mardi Gras. "Mardi Gras runs New Orleans." said one socialite. "It separates people." . . . A few other organisations, such as the Board of Trustees of Tulane University, indicated even closer proximity to the inside of New Orleans than did club membership.” [25]
Those who think Mardi Gras is not primarily a political event should consider the 2004 report of Tulane President Scott Cowen:
“The Louisiana congressional delegation hosted its annual Mardi Gras celebration in Washington, D.C. this week, and I attended the reception honoring the Washington King of Carnival last night. This annual celebration is a great time to network with decision-makers whose actions can impact Tulane. I also had the chance to meet with several alumni, potential donors as well as legislators on the Hill.” [26]
In 2005, it was revealed that former University of New Orleans Chancellor Gregory O'Brien had used UNO Foundation funds to help sponsor the Washington Mardi Gras, an affair "complete with a Mystic Krewe of Louisiana that blends political networking and partying." According to UNO officials, the annual event fosters contacts with powerful figures about campus needs [27].
Deep Rabbit hole indeed.
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Vindicator ago
Does horror writer Dean Koontz know something?
This reminded me that Dean Koontz, the blockbuster horror novelist, has an entire series set in New Orleans that might be based on some real insider knowledge. The series is called "Frankenstein" and is about a corrupt biotech puppetmaster genetically engineering super-clones identical to public figures, who are then replaced by their dopplegangers. He bills it as "a saga about the monsters that walk among us" in which "a wave of intruders who will invade other homes . . . offices . . . every local institution, assuming the identities and the lives of those they have been engineered to replace."
There are five books. Here are the Amazon summaries:
Book One: Prodigal Son
Every city has its secrets. But none as terrible as this. He is Deucalion, a tattooed man of mysterious origin, a sleight-of-reality artist who has traveled the centuries with a secret worse than death. He arrives in New Orleans as a serial killer stalks the streets, a killer who carefully selects his victims for the humanity that is missing in himself. Deucalion’s path will lead him to cool, tough police detective Carson O’Connor and her devoted partner, Michael Maddison, who are tracking the slayer but will soon discover signs of something far more terrifying: an entire race of killers who are much more–and less–than human and, deadliest of all, their deranged, near-immortal maker: Victor Helios–once known as Frankenstein.
Book Two: City of Night
They are stronger, heal better, and think faster than any humans ever created–and they must be destroyed. Not even Victor Helios–once Frankenstein–can stop the engineered killers he’s set loose on a reign of terror through modern-day New Orleans. Only the one-time “monster” Deucalion and his all-too-human partners, Detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, stand in their way. But as the three race to uncover the true dimensions of an age-old conspiracy, they will discover that Victor’s new, improved models have infiltrated every level of the city’s society . . . and far beyond.
Book Three: Dead and Alive
As a devastating hurricane approaches, as the benighted creations of Victor Helios begin to spin out of control, as New Orleans descends into chaos and the future of humanity hangs in the balance, the only hope rests with Victor’s first, failed attempt to build the perfect human. Deucalion’s centuries-old history began as the original manifestation of a soulless vision–and it is fated to end in the ultimate confrontation between a damned creature and his mad creator. But first they must face a monstrosity not even Victor’s malignant mind could have conceived–an indestructible entity that steps out of humankind’s collective nightmare with powers, and a purpose, beyond imagining.
Book Four: Lost Souls
The war against humanity has begun. In the dead hours of the night, a stranger enters the home of the mayor of Rainbow Falls, Montana. The stranger is in the vanguard of a wave of intruders who will invade other homes . . . offices . . . every local institution, assuming the identities and the lives of those they have been engineered to replace. Before the sun rises, the town will be under full assault, the opening objective in the new Victor Frankenstein’s trajectory of ultimate destruction. Deucalion—Victor’s first, haunted creation—saw his maker die in New Orleans two years earlier. Yet an unshakable intuition tells him that Victor lives—and is at work again. Within hours Deucalion will come together with his old allies, detectives Carson O’Connor and Michael Maddison, Victor’s engineered wife, Erika Five, and her companion Jocko to confront new peril. Others will gather around them. But this time Victor has a mysterious, powerful new backer, and he and his army are more formidable, their means and intentions infinitely more deadly, than ever before.
Book Six: The Dead Town
The war against humanity is raging. As the small town of Rainbow Falls, Montana, comes under siege, scattered survivors come together to weather the onslaught of the creatures set loose upon the world. As they ready for battle against overwhelming odds, they will learn the full scope of Victor Frankenstein’s nihilistic plan to remake the future—and the terrifying reach of his shadowy, powerful supporters.
Now the good will make their last, best stand. In a climax that will shatter every expectation, their destinies and the fate of humanity hang in the balance.
Dean Koontz’s enthralling Frankenstein series has redefined the classic legend of infernal ambition and harrowing retribution for a new century and a new age. Now the master of suspense delivers an unforgettable novel that is at once a thrilling adventure in itself and a mesmerizing conclusion to his saga of the modern monsters among us.